Mental training: Positive self-talk
By Charlene Waldner
April 24, 2007 -- Henry Ford said, “If you believe you can do something or believe you can’t, you’re probably right.” He was right.
Thinking negatively causes failure. Thinking positively causes success. The power of positive words and thoughts can improve our experience in a race situation by increasing our self-confidence as an athlete.
Where positive thoughts can help improve our performance, negative thoughts can hinder our mental and physical capabilities. For example, if you repeat to yourself “I hate my sport”, you’ll feel changes occur to your body. Now change the phrase to “I love my sport” and see what happens to your strength. Repeating to yourself a positive thought pattern such as “I love” would improve your strength and better your performance.
Experiment with positive self-talk during training and then apply it to racing. For example, if you don’t enjoy hills, wind or swimming, try repeating over and over that you “love” hills, wind and swimming. You will notice a difference in your strength and energy. The result is a more natural and powerful performance.
Ironman-distance triathlon can be an emotional roller coaster. It’s a long day with highs and lows and it's a real challenge to keep negative thoughts away. One must be strong minded to turn these nasty demons into angels; otherwise you may find a fist of fury coming down on you.
Countless athletes have had break-through performances by focusing their attention on replacing negative thought with positive ones. Sometimes it’s a matter of breaking down the task at hand, giving yourself technical cues and remembering previous peak performances or breakthrough workouts.
We all experience nervousness before big events. It’s a perfectly natural feeling. This is the time to be strong, avoid self-doubt, have confidence in yourself, and know you are prepared. It’s important when you get to the start line to remember – your body did the work! Racing is the reward for all the hard training.
I look for ways to be positive in a stressful environment. One-way to combat negative feelings is to take a few deep belly breaths. Doing this provides instant relaxation. Another ways is to write down positive affirmations and read them over at the beginning and end of each day. I also find listening to positive self-talk tapes helps to calm the mind and center the body. There's some good reading material out there as well. One of my favorites is “Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Tao sports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business and Life” by Jerry Lynch. Another good read is “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. I find reading some of my favorite sections when traveling to races helps me to get focused and less stressed before a big event.
The role of a coach also plays a part in instilling confidence in their athletes. Before a race it’s important to sit down with your coach, go over a race plan, discuss problem solving for unexpected occurrences and review race strategy.
Whichever strategies you chose, practice them consistently. If we put a fraction of the time into our mental training skills as we did our physical training, one could only imagine how far we could go. One of the best feelings you'll have is when your mind is empty and you are totally immersed in the moment. When doubt arises you can accept it and then repeat the following statements:
My mind is quiet.
I am at ease.
My mind is calm & quiet.
I feel an inward quietness.
I accept only positive energies & feelings.
I have great athletic skills.
I am tough and strong mined.
I’m energetic and alive.
I am confident.
I am in control and on a roll.
I am quick to make decisions in a stressful situation.
I see myself getting better and better each day in every way.
Enjoy the journey!
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